Spinning
by sesquipedality
Summary: Derek Venturi, teenage Casanova, would never lose his cool over a spin-the bottle kiss. No, his freak-out is inspired by Casey-drama-queen-McDonald's ensuing calm.
1. Chapter 1

_Don't own_ Life with Derek_. Do own my plot._

* * *

It's a lame party; even the highest point is far below the most boring of Derek-bashes. Still, Ryan's a friend, and since Casey threw a fit about it being her turn to have the car Derek couldn't have gone somewhere else anyway (he waited at least twenty minutes for her to make the crucial shoe decision and they idled for a further ten in the Davis's driveway while Emily tracked down the right purse. _Girls!_) It's a lame party but even lame parties have their benefits.

After most of the guests have gone the remaining few gather in the living room, sprawling on the Johnson's truly extensive collection of floor pillows. Everyone is sleepy and full of good food but no one is drunk (Ryan's parents stayed home, the party stayed dry), and the lights are dim. The mellowest tracks of somebody's ipod play quietly beneath the lazy conversation, the room is warm and full of good feeling. Derek would never admit it but he loves moments like these. His parties, while perfect in every other aspect, never simmer down into drowsy contentedness.

Then someone proposes a game of spin-the-bottle. The suggestion is lamer than the rest of the evening put together (what are they, twelve?), but the cushions are gathered into a rough circle and an appropriate vessel placed in the center.

Kissing Sam is a disgusting sacrifice that Derek's nonetheless willing to make for rules which create the possibility of hot girl-on-girl action. After he finishes grimacing he takes his turn and the bottle wobbles and twists and drags to a stop. Drags to a stop, pointing straight at Casey.

Derek's immediate protests trigger a hubbub of shouted opinions. The predominant belief is that the stepsiblings aren't actually _related_ and as they didn't even _meet_ until two years ago there's no _cause_ for _ick_ at _all._ Casey looks up at him and the light, catching on the curve of her cheek, just _glows_.

Derek watches in a daze as she sways across the circle and stumbles down beside him. She leans forward and the curtain of her hair shuts out the rest of the room, satin strands sliding across his face. Casey smells like honey, amber dark and druggingly sweet. Her lips rest against his for one moment, two, and then the soft warm pressure disappears as she wobbles back to her cushion. She spins the bottle and Justin Blake struts forward to pull her into a passionate embrace while the normal flow of conversation resumes around them.

* * *

_Please review!_


	2. Chapter 2

The dark roads and drizzling rain have an almost hypnotic effect on Derek; it's several minutes before he realizes that the girls in the back seat have fallen silent. In the rear-view mirror Emily's dim form lies sprawled against Casey, drowsing as the taller girl gently strokes her friend's hair. When she catches his eye Casey's smile is sleepy and slow.

Derek struggles with his key as Casey shepherds a nearly catatonic Emily home to her own house. Nora and George left the porch light on but inside is dark and still. Staring at the glow of his computer he listens to the muffled thumps and rushing water of Casey preparing for bed. He peaks through her door on the way to his shower; the streetlight through her blinds casts harsh slats of brightness across her pillows and the room is full of quiet breathing. They'll talk, he supposes, in the morning.

The kiss didn't mean anything—Derek kissed Sam, for goodness sake, the one with Casey is no different. Derek knows this and he's sure Casey will realize it eventually. Until she does, however, he's facing a freak-out of epic proportions as she analyzes each minute detail and corroborates her conclusions with Emily and Paul. It's annoying but Casey's a drama queen and, since it looks like the McDonalds are there to stay, he just has to deal with it (this acceptance in no way means he won't complain).

He wakens to Casey standing at the foot of his bed and screeching about the wet towel he left on the _"shared!" _bathroom floor. At breakfast she smirks at him wickedly as she nabs the last of the milk for her cereal. It's an unusual occurrence (what Derek wants Derek still generally gets) but not an unusual reaction. As the day progresses she chats with her mother, giggles with her sister, and entertains Marti. She studies her regular excessive amount and helps around the house and shrieks at Derek—annoying, but routine. Where, he wonders, is the reaction? Where is the avoidance of eye contact, the stilted conversation, the culminating confrontation? He feels as though he's holding a grenade but the explosion never comes.

Tense, Derek scrutinizes Casey's every action for evidence of repressed emotion. While studying she absentmindedly pushes an errant lock of hair behind one ear only to repeat the motion a moment later as it falls forward again. Pausing to think she nibbles on her lip and taps her fingers in a quick staccato. As the sun lowers it streams directly into her face, highlighting her cheekbones, the stark shadows of her lashes, the dip of her exposed collarbone; she squints, narrowing her eyes and creating a slight crease between her brows. Are these normal behaviors, Derek wonders, or signs of the turmoil brewing beneath Casey's calm surface? Catching him watching she smiles in greeting, as his stares continue she shifts to quizzical looks and, eventually, glares.

That evening he strains to hear the muted sounds of her phone conversation with Emily—giggles and happy exclamations punctuating the calm, steady stream of muffled words. Calm, steady, happy—something, Derek decides, is definitely wrong.

* * *

_Aww! Derek is starting to obsess over Casey without even realizing it! In a probably unnecessary disclaimer, the phrase "quiet breathing" is one I love because of its use in Keats' _Endymion_. Otherwise, the show is theirs, not mine, and this story is mine, not yours. Thank you for reading, please review, constructive criticism especially appreciated. _


End file.
